I have that song on my copy of the album and i bought it in winter 2002. I've never heard anything about that happening.

I heard it was pulled for a while at least... my copy has it too...

I think it is just named something different?

They renamed it for American copies. It was renamed "When It Started".

When It Started is a completely different song, so it was replaced, not renamed.

Yeah the record company took it off the American version as well as chickening out with the Smell The Glove-esq artwork. Ridiculous really, and the fact that the Strokes politely complied speaks volumes of how rebellion's in the rock n' roll grave.

Who here is excited for the new Strokes album? I thought First Impressions was a major step back so hopefully this represents a return to form.

The removal of "New York City Cops" happened right after September 11, 2011 when a ton of New York City cops died so maybe the band, being New Yorkers themselves, felt in that moment that being a bit respectful of that trumped teenage rebellion. Don't get me wrong, that's actually one of my favorite songs on the album so I'm glad I have the European release. I'm just saying maybe them leaving it off when they did might have somewhat of a valid reason behind it.

I think When It Started is a better song

I am just glad someone backed me up on my statement that it was pulled...lol... as to the rebelliousness of removing it, I dunno, I think the band probably didn't wanna piss off a whole bunch of fans, and the record company probably felt it inappropriate, considering the line "NYC Cops, they ain't too smart" would have been a red rag to a bull at the time... you know, there's a fine line between rebellion and signing your band a death warrant...